1978 Nomad Trailer Restoration/Project: 88GMCtruck is at it again.

[88GMCtruck]

Well, I'm up to another project yet again.

Here we have my newest driveway edition: a 1978 Nomad 16' travel trailer. It has a full bath, full kitchen, dinette, couch/bed, and bunk. It has a very nice and open floorplan.

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I picked this up just outside of town for a whopping $250. It's been unlicenced/unused since 2003.

The good: It's in good shape outside, just needs a good pressure washing. Inside, all the fabric, fixtures, counters, appliances etc are in great condition. Everything works great.

The bad: Outside, the lights don't all work yet, but that should just be a cleaning/ground issue. the tires look to be original, as they are GoodYear 7.75-15ST tires and have LARGE cracks all over. Inside is going to take the most effort. The subfloor is toast. Stupid trailer manufacturer decided to use chip board for a floor, that crumbles with any moisture. The roof is solid, but part of the paneling inside needs replaced. One small portion of wall needs replaced as well due to some water damage. The roof obviously needs sealed.

So yeah. It's a project. The goal is to have a nice, reliable camper that I can hitch up the truck to and just take off for the weekend. I'll be towing this with the 88 primarily. So, here is the list of items that will be done to the truck and trailer

Truck:
- re-install brake controller
- buy weight distributing hitch
- buy towing mirrors
- install relay and wiring for trailer lights. I've had too many dash light switches burn out on me
- possibly install my 3/4ton springs, or re-install my helper bags with some quick disconnect
- re-gear truck to 4.56s or 4.88s. This one has been in the works awhile now anyway

Trailer:
- replace subfloor, roof skin and partial wall skin
- replace tires and inspect/replace wheel bearings and brakes
- re-seal roof and windows
- fix exterior lighting, possibly replace with LED at some point
- obvious clean and sanitize insides, fridge and water tank
- thinking about re-painting the sides something a little more modern, maybe to match the truck

So anyway, I'll be updating this as I go along, with my budget trailer resto.

 

[chevy_man]

I would check your insulation as well. Buddy has one almost identical and his only complaint is that his walls "sweat" horribly because of the lack of insulation/vapor barrier.

And caulk is your friend.

 

[88GMCtruck]

Yeah, it's on the list of things to do. I know the insulation in floor will most likely be replaced, depending on if it makes it out of the trailer without damage. As far as caulk goes, I'm thinking about buying an electric caulk gun.....

Anyway, here is the update. Yesterday I pressure washed the entire trailer. Looks better now. There is a few panels that will need painted as the paint is gone from sun. All the light lenses were pulled and cleaned as well, only one broken lens in all.

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Then, I moved inside for a bit. Got the couch/bed out, fresh water tank and water heater pulled. Both seem to be in good condition. I'm going to pour about a gallon of bleach in the water tank and let it sit in the sun for the next few weeks. The good news is thus far, the places I can see structural wood are still solid, only the cheap chip board subfloor and some paneling seems to be bad.

Today, I picked up a set of Republic Enterprise 205/70R15 tires for free. They are in great shape, probably about 60% tread. They actually hold about 150lbs more per tire as well, which is nice. The tires came mounted on a set of Subaru wheels, but the guy wanted to keep them for a rally car he was building. So anyway, with the help of Devin (83GMCK2500) we did the redneck dismount and mount of tires. Used a piece of large lumber and a truck to break the beads and pry bars to mount/dismount the wheels. All went rather easily and they are in the truck, ready for balancing.

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[88GMCtruck]

Got alot done this morning before the temps soared and I had to go to work. I took the hubs/drums off. The brakes shoes all look good, and the mechanisms move as they should.
The bearings also looked great, and the grease appeared as if it had very few miles on it.

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So I cleaned out the brakes with brake clean, and packed some more grease in the hub/bearings and re-assembled them. I even painted the hubs black so they look a little better.

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And re-mounted the tires. I borrowed a 70s GMC center cap and voila, it fits. I may be looking at finding a good used set of them for the trailer.

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Quick shot after the pressure washing and with the wheels back on

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Water tank and water heater removed

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Here is what the insides are looking like as of now. That is where the water tank was, working towards getting the other fixtures out this weekend.

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Oh, and my most recent, vintage eBay purchase. Not trailer related, but its so awesome I know you guy's will appreciate it.

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[BHBurban]

I was going to ask for interior pics. This is a cool project. A guy by me has a Toyota motorhome in need of refurbishing that I want.

 

[88GMCtruck]

Today was a little lax on the progress. My friend is here from home and we went on a few hour motorcycle ride this morning, but I still got more work done. Out came the dinette.

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And pulled up the rotten sub floor.

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Found about 5-6 tears in the aluminum, probably from rocks or something. Going to have to patch these up so no water gets in.

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Found the right edge of the floor 2x2 frame is a little more rotten than I would like. It'll be replaced, along with a few in the floor itself.

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Storing all the cushions in the bunk for now.

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And all the cabinets/tables/dinette in the garage, with what little space I have. This pile I'm sure will grow much more.

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Tomorrow I'm going to try to get the fridge and oven out, maybe the kitchen cabinets.

 

[MIHELA]

Sweet project. I want to do something like this in a few years. I've been looking into building my own teardrop trailer vs refurbishing an older trailer like yours.

 

[88GMCtruck]

More progress. Got a few hundred dollars of supplies at the building supply place.

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Where we left off

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More floor pulling and disassembly

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Few patch panels and JB weld

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And the scary part. Some siding removed, holding the wall with jacks

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Closeup of the sandwich style construction.

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Floor ready for a few new floor joists, insulation and new flooring. See the daylight under the walls?

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Insulated

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Added additional bracing where the plywood panels will butt up against the next.

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And putting the plywood in

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First part floor panel in!!!

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[eck95z71]

Great project at a great price!

 

[CodyB]

What eck said is no joke, the metal could probably have netted better than that at the recyclers. Gonna be nice when you get it done.